


Lacrimosa

by auroradawn9669



Series: Cry Little Sister [7]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Beating, Billy Hargrove is psycho in this, Blackmail, Blood, Bullying, Child Abuse, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Domestic Violence, Drug Withdrawal, Erica Sinclair is sassy, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Implied Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jealous Max Mayfield, Lucas is a great boyfriend, Max is slowly starting to lose it, Mentions of drugged rape, Mike Wheeler is a little shit sometimes, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Nightmares, Non-Consensual Groping, Non-Consensual Kissing, Non-Consensual Touching, Not a redemption fic at all, Possessive Billy Hargrove, Power and Control issues, Probably more warnings to come, Slut Shaming, Vaginal Fingering, but I still love him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-07 14:46:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14673324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auroradawn9669/pseuds/auroradawn9669
Summary: She didn’t really understand why Billy did any of things he did.And now she was going to have to face her friends, faceLucasand keep pretending everything was fine. She was getting so tired of pretending.She was getting really tired, period.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still working on part two of this one. I'm not entirely happy with this part because it feels disjointed to me somehow. Please heed the tag warnings.

Billy didn’t _do_ guilt. He just didn’t. Regret, on the other hand, was another story. 

And it didn’t take long at all for that regret to set in. Regret for letting Tommy touch Max. Regret for letting him give her drugs. He spent the entire weekend keeping an eye on her, making sure she didn’t end up slipping into a coma from the pills his friend had kept slipping into her mouth all night on Friday. Everytime he checked on her, she was curled up in bed, huddled beneath the covers, body trembling beneath the blankets like she couldn’t get warm. 

Twice he’d had to force her to eat some soup, but the second time she’d ended up throwing it all back up. Fucking drugs. 

Fucking Tommy. 

Max hadn’t spoken to him, had barely so much as looked at him. Like the very sight of him made her ill. He’d wanted her submissive, wanted to break her. But not like _this._ And he hadn’t wanted Tommy’s help breaking her. He’d just been backed into a corner that he didn’t know how to get out of. There hadn’t been a choice, but it was over now. He just had to get her to get past what had happened Friday night. 

Fortunately for both of them it wasn’t a weekend where their parents ended up getting back sooner than anticipated, which gave her busted lip time to heal up some. He’d sat with her for hours before they got home Sunday night, drilling into her the importance of telling them she’d simply fallen off her skateboard doing some new move. They’d believe it. They didn’t ask a lot of questions: at least not from _Max._

And they believed it when her mom came to check on her, finding her curled up in bed. He’d strained to hear her responses from his place in the hallway, and a proud smile touched his mouth when he heard her tell her mom that she’d fallen - but then she’d added the bit that sold it even more: it was her time of the month. Her mom had made soothing noises and given her ibuprofen, and a hot water bottle to hold against her stomach.

She’d be fine. 

She’d get over the incident and things would go back to normal. 

***

Max hadn’t spoken to him since Saturday morning when he’d woken her up with a cold shower while she’d been fully clothed, and she didn’t speak even as she sat in the passenger seat of his car Monday morning. It was a sunny day, already warmer than it had been for spring, but she was shivering beside him, even bundled up in a sweater and a pair of jeans. He’d let her pick out her own clothes that morning, had let it slide that she hadn’t bothered to thank him for it. He watched her from the corner of his eye as she kept her arms wound protectively around herself, head leaned against the passenger side window. 

“So you’re just not going to talk to me?” he asked as he pulled the camaro into the parking lot at school.

She didn’t respond, nor did she wait for him to come to a full stop before she yanked the passenger door handle and shoved it open, crawling out with her bookbag and slamming the door behind her. He watched her silently as she made her way up to the school, moving more slowly than usual. 

“Guess not.” 

***

Max knew she should be used to the aches and pains that came with Billy’s frequent assaults on her, but somehow this time had been worse. All of her muscles and bones ached. The soreness between her legs was worse than it usually was, and she was bleeding again, and not just vaginally. He’d clearly sodomized her as well - maybe more than once. Her throat hurt, was raw in a way it only ever was when he made her go down on him. She knew how it all felt at this point, knew the signs and symptoms. Knew he’d used her in every way possible. 

Maybe it was worse this time because she couldn’t remember a thing that happened after school Friday until she’d woke up in an ice cold shower, fully dressed with Billy’s arms around her sometime the next morning. She’d had a raging headache since then that had barely dulled with all the ibuprofen she’d swallowed the last two days, and her stomach had alternated between nausea and a complete lack of appetite. 

On top of that, her head felt fuzzy in a way it never had before, like there was a spool of cotton in her brain that wouldn’t let her hold onto any singular thought for more than a couple of moments. There were bruises and marks all over her body. And she was _exhausted._ The walk up the steps of the school made her want to cry because it hurt, and because just that simple action made her feel like she needed a nap.

Max wasn’t stupid. Billy had drugged her, given her _something_ to render her unconscious so he could do with her whatever he pleased. What she didn’t understand was _why_. He always seemed to enjoy tormenting her while she was awake. Why would he drug her? Then again, she didn’t really understand why Billy did any of things he did. 

And now she was going to have to face her friends, face _Lucas_ and keep pretending everything was fine. She was getting so tired of pretending. 

She was getting really tired, period.  
***

Monday mornings had somehow become one of Lucas’ favorite things, especially lately, when Max’s parents hadn’t let her come around as much during the weekends and it had been three nights since he’d last seen her. Today was no exception, and he was already waiting at her locker waiting when he saw her approaching. He was almost surprised to see her in jeans and a sweater because it had been weeks since her mom decided she needed to dress more feminine. Maybe she’d finally realized how unhappy it was making Max. 

He was also surprised that her skateboard wasn’t tucked under her arm, but it only took him a second to recognize that something was wrong. One arm was wrapped around her stomach, the other reached back to hold onto one of her backpack straps. She was hurt. Her lower lip was swollen - not badly, but enough to be noticable. She wasn’t moving right, either. She was walking more slowly than usual, like she was trying not to cause herself anymore pain than she was already obviously in. 

Lucas pushed away from her locker, meeting her halfway down the hall. “What happened?” he whispered, eyes worried. 

“I fell,” she answered, voice hushed, not looking at him as she kept moving toward her locker til she reached it. He reached out carefully, easing her backpack off her shoulders and hoisting it up over his own. 

The look she gave him made all the air leave his lungs, because her eyes were burning with unshed tears. 

“Max,” he whispered, shifting closer toward her even as she flinched, his eyes widening at the reaction. “Talk to me.” 

“I just fell. I broke my board trying to do a stupid trick,” she said dully, spinning the combination on her locker. 

It wasn’t the truth. He knew it and he knew _she_ knew he knew it. Which meant whatever had really happened was something so horrible she felt like couldn’t tell him the truth, and that hurt on so many levels. He swallowed hard, worry making his stomach knot. He lowered his voice. “Did Billy do something? Did he hurt you?” 

The books she’d been pulling off the top shelf of her locker clattered to the floor, making both of them jump. 

“God, Lucas. Just leave it alone, okay? I don’t need you to rescue me or something. I’m _fine_!” She slammed the locker door shut and knelt to pick up the books and he didn’t miss the way she winced at the movement.  
“Whoa, who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?” Dustin asked cheerfully, eyebrows arched as he crossed the hall to where Lucas was standing. 

“Fuck off, Dustin,” Max snapped, grabbing her books and turning to flee down the hall. 

Lucas stared after her and then turned his head to look at Dustin, whose expression was now one of utter confusion. 

“What the fuck just happened?” 

“Nothing good,” Lucas murmured, shaking his head and moving toward his own locker, tucking her bookbag inside of it even as he spotted Billy sauntering down the hall. He wasn’t sure how he knew, call it instinct, call it knowing Max, but he _knew_ beyond the shadow of a doubt that whatever happened to Max was somehow Billy’s fault. 

***

Snapping at her friends didn’t make her feel any better, to say the least. It was just one more thing that weighed on her shoulders as she made her way through the day, doing her best to avoid everyone. Instead of joining them outside for lunch, Max skipped lunch entirely and curled up in a far corner of the library, falling asleep at the table and jumping when the bell rang. 

It took a moment for her breathing to even out and when it did, she rubbed a hand over her eyes tiredly, head still pounding. She didn’t want to get up and go to class, especially not considering it was study hall with Mike. By now he’d no doubt gotten an earful from Dustin about that morning, and she didn’t feel like dealing with it. 

It wasn’t worth it. She didn’t care if she wound up with detention over it. It was worth it not to have to sit up in a hard seat for the next forty-five minutes. She skipped study hall, remaining in the library, letting herself drift off back to sleep. 

As much as she didn’t want to, she had to force herself to get up and go to her final class of the day, even though she liked English Lit. and she really _did_ want to see Lucas. She knew it was possible he’d be upset with her for her behavior this morning, and for avoiding him all day, and she wouldn’t blame him if he was. Still, she was going to apologize after school, do her best to reassure him she was fine and just not feeling well. That much, at least, was the truth, even if she couldn’t tell him the reasons _why_ she wasn’t feeling well. 

She made it to class right as the bell rang. 

“Impeccable timing, Ms. Mayfield,” Mr. Parson commented, giving her a look. 

Max gave him a quick, tight smile before she sat down, setting her books on her desk. 

“As I was saying.” He gave her a look and then addressed the rest of the class. “Today begins our last unit, and we’ll be reading The Scarlet Letter.” He moved to the window and grabbed a stack of books, handing them out one at a time. “For the majority of this unit we’ll be working in small groups.” 

Half the students in the class groaned at that, and Max agreed with the sentiment, wondering how the hell she was going to pull _that_ off. It wasn’t like she could invite people to her house to work. 

Mr. Parson handed her a book and moved on as he continued. She stared at the cover and then ventured a glance across the aisle to Lucas, who was already looking back at her. She offered him a tentative smile and he smiled back just as hesitantly, which made her feel more guilty than she already felt. She was still relieved that he at least didn’t seem pissed at her. She leaned back in her chair, exhaling slowly and doing her best to pay attention as he started talking about the book. 

Max chewed her lower lip as the hour dragged on and her eyelids drooped against her will. She jumped when Mr. Parson said her name. “You’ll be paired up with Troy.” She blinked, staring at him blankly and then turning to see the other kid smirking at her from the back of the room. 

“Mr. Sinclair, you and Ms. Farrington will be working together on this one.” 

Instantly her gaze shifted to the blonde at the front of the room, who was smiling a little at Lucas and her heart sank as Lucas smiled back at her. Of course this day was going to get worse. 

Why wouldn’t it? 

***

“Hey.” 

Even if Max had wanted to continue avoiding Lucas - which she _didn’t_ \- he wasn’t going to give her the chance, moving to stand right beside her desk as soon as the bell rang and class dismissed. She looked up at him, at the hopeful expression on his face, chest tightening almost painfully. 

“Hey,” she said back, slowly rising to her feet. 

“Walk you to your locker?” 

She nodded. 

“Lucas?” 

They both turned to see Marie standing a few feet away, books clutched to her chest. Her long blonde hair dusted lightly against her bare shoulders. 

“Uh, hey,” Lucas greeted. 

“I was wondering when you wanted to get together to work on the project?” 

Max pressed her lips together, looking between them with a growing sense of unease. 

“Maybe we could work on it Wednesday afternoon?” he suggested and Max thought he sounded nervous. Uneasy. “I have AV Club tomorrow and tonight I’ve got some family stuff going on.” 

“Sure. Wednesday sounds great. My place or yours?” she asked with an easy smile.

Lucas slid his gaze over to Max. “Maybe we could just work here at school?” He smiled faintly at her. 

“That’s fine, too.” Marie looked at Max and smiled tentatively. “Hey, Max. I like your sweater.” 

“Yeah, thanks. It’s warm,” she responded, voice sounding hollow to her own ears as she stared at the other girl. She was pretty in a way that Max definitely wasn’t, dressed impeccably in a button down white blouse and a long black skirt that flared at the bottom. 

“Well, I have to go. I have volleyball practice. We have a game Friday. You guys should come,” she said, reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Uh, yeah. Sure, maybe,” Lucas agreed with a quick nod. “Good luck with practice.” 

Marie’s smile brightened and she nodded back. “Thanks. See you guys later.” She headed away as they watched her go. 

Max’s gaze shifted to Lucas, trying to gauge his reaction. “So, you’re into volleyball now?” she couldn’t help asking. 

“What?” He blinked and looked at her, confusion flickering over his face. “No. I was just trying to be nice,” he explained. 

“She likes you.” She met his eyes for a moment before scooping her books up off her desk and leading the way toward the hallway. 

“No, she doesn’t. She’s nice to everybody,” he told her, following her quickly and rounding the corner toward their lockers. “She complimented your sweater.” 

Yeah, Max thought tiredly. She sure had. She’d probably been trying to remind herself that Lucas already had a girlfriend, even if it was just _Max._ She exhaled as she spun the combination on her locker. 

“Are you mad at me?” 

That made her pause and she turned her head to look at him. “No.” She looked down at her shoes for a moment. “I’m sorry about this morning.” 

“It’s okay,” he told her immediately, shaking his head. 

“It isn’t,” she whispered, guilt welling up in her again. “You were just worried and I bit your head off.” 

“ _Max--_ ” 

“I’m _sorry._ ” Max swallowed heavily, lifting her head to meet his eyes again. 

“It’s _okay,_ ” he whispered, reaching out and lacing his fingers through hers. “Really, Max. You had a bad morning. I’m not upset with you. I promise.” 

Promise. It was a word that held so much weight in the party that sometimes it felt like it might suffocate her. 

“Can you come over tonight? We can work on homework and just like, hang out for awhile?” 

Max hesitated. “I’ll have to talk to my mom.” There was no way that Billy was going to let her out of the house so she could to go Lucas’ house, and she couldn’t lie and tell him she was going somewhere else because it was Billy and he would _check_. And it wasn’t just her ass on the line. 

“Okay.” He squeezed her hand, then leaned in, hugging her. She leaned into him, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly at the embrace, her nerves calming even though she knew they shouldn’t. Today was a long way from over and Billy was probably already waiting. 

She was already dreading getting in the car with him. 

***

Billy didn’t do guilt. 

But somehow it felt like he owed her. So when she told him - without looking at him - that she wanted to spend the night at Lucas’, he gritted his teeth, fingers tightening around the steering wheel. He didn’t want Lucas’ hands on her anymore than he’d wanted Tommy’s hands on her. “You think you’ve earned that?” he bit out. 

“After what you did to me, you think I _haven’t_?” Her voice was just as harsh as his own. 

Billy glanced at her sideways, the tension in her posture, the way her fingers were curled around the straps of her bookbag. He worked his jaw, turning to face forward again. 

“I want to spend the night somewhere I know no one’s going to _hurt_ me while I’m sleeping for once,” she said bitterly. 

He grimaced, exhaling slowly. “Fine.” He supposed he deserved that, considering Friday night. “I’ll take you there after dinner tonight.” 

***

Her mom didn’t care, but she might have if she’d told her she was spending the night with Lucas instead of Jane. But she wasn’t stupid. So she told her mom she and Jane had a project they needed to work on together, and she grabbed her backpack and headed out the door. She didn’t wait for Billy to give her a ride, she just took off. She needed the air. 

Except a half mile into the walk, she was reminded that right now movement _hurt_ and the farther she walked, the more her body ached, protesting. She needed to stop, and after a quarter of a mile more, she gave in, easing herself down so she was sitting on the curb, hand pressed against her stomach, eyes closing tightly. 

She drew in a breath and let it out slowly, blanching when she heard a car pulling to a stop a few feet away, fully expecting to open her eyes and see the camaro. 

It was the exact opposite. She pressed her lips together as Steve stared at her from the driver’s side of his patrol car. “Max?” There was no mistaking the worry in his voice, or the fact that it was reflected in his eyes. 

Max simply looked at him for a moment, contemplating briefly what would happen if she got in the car with him and just spilled her guts. Trouble, she thought immediately, and it was Billy’s voice she heard in her mind. She thought of the gun he had, the threats he’d waged against Lucas. Without evidence - and a lot of it - they wouldn’t be able to hold him for long. And when it came down to it, it was her word against his. There were reasons things like rape didn’t get reported that often. 

“Hey,” she said, struggling to make her voice sound normal. 

“What are you doing out here?” he asked, frowning. 

“I’m on my way to Lucas’. Got a cramp in my leg,” she said with a shrug. 

“Is that why you’re holding your stomach?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

“I guess I didn’t think you’d want to hear about my period cramps, Steve.” Once upon a time, Max might have laughed at the expression that flickered across his face, but she felt too hollowed out for laughter now. Like all of her humor had dried up and been chipped away, leaving behind nothing but bitterness in its wake. 

“Get in. I’ll drive you,” he told her, inclining his head toward the passenger seat. 

She rose to her feet slowly, biting down hard on her tongue with the movement. She moved around the car and reached for the passenger side door handle, pulling on it and easing herself into the seat. 

“Do you uh, have stuff? Like, pain stuff? For the cramps?” Steve glanced at her sideways before shifting the car into gear. 

“Yeah,” she answered honestly. She’d been swallowing ibuprofen down around the clock like it was candy the last three days, but it didn’t do much. Whatever Billy had done to her this time was definitely worse than usual. The fact that he’d agreed to letting her go to Lucas’ for the night just drove that point home for her, and she was torn between wanting to demand answers from him and hoping she never remembered whatever happened on Friday. 

“Do you need anything else?” 

She could tell Steve was really trying to reach out to her, to make sure she was okay. “No. Just the ride.” She paused, glancing at him sideways, hair falling in front of her face. “Thanks.” 

He gave a quick nod, turning the car around and pointing it in the direction of the Sinclair place, shifting it into gear. “You been okay?” 

Wasn’t that a loaded question? She was pretty far from okay. So far from it that she couldn’t remember the last time she _had_ been okay. “Yeah. I’ve been fine,” she responded, not looking at him. 

“Those kids give you and Lucas anymore trouble?” 

“Troy and James?” She made a face. “No.” It wasn’t like she could tell him she was stuck with Troy for a project partner. There wasn’t really anything he could do about that, anymore than he could really do anything about Billy. Other people couldn’t save you from your life. She’d learned that a long, long time ago. 

“Good,” he murmured. “That’s good.” He sounded troubled and she sneaked a quick glance at him. 

“Are _you_ okay?” 

He turned his head and met her eyes momentarily. “Yeah, I’m good. Can’t complain,” he said, and she only half-believed him. People always had things they could complain about. Some people just didn’t because there wasn’t a point. Maybe she and Steve were more alike than she’d initially thought. 

Moments later the car pulled up in front of Lucas’ house and she reached for the door handle. “Thank you for the ride.” 

“Max, wait.” 

She froze, icy cold tendrils of fear wrapping around her spine as she waited. “Yeah?” 

“Listen. I just - if you ever need anything, I hope you know you can call me.” 

She slowly turned her head to look at him, heart beating hard in her chest. That worried look was back on his face. Like he knew something, or at the very least, suspected something. “I know.” 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around for you guys as much lately,” he began, and she relaxed. He wasn’t worried about her specifically. He was worried about the party, in general. 

“Steve,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “It’s fine. You’re allowed to have a life of your own. We’re fine. Really.” 

Steve didn’t look convinced. “Yeah, well, I’m still around. So don’t forget it.” 

She gave a short nod even as she tugged at the door handle. “Of course. Night, Steve. Thanks for the ride,” she repeated as she crawled out of the car, holding onto the straps of her bookbag and making her way toward the door. 

***

For the first couple hours Max was there, she and Lucas just worked side by side on their various homework assignments. She was pretty sure she was still going to bomb the AP Bio test the following day but she couldn’t bring herself to ask him to help her study for it, and she couldn’t keep her mind on the material with the way her head was pounding. Eventually she shut the book and laid her head down on his mattress, letting her eyes drift shut.

A moment later she felt the mattress shift and he laid his head down beside hers. “Headache?” 

“I can’t get it to go away,” she admitted. She felt the gentle pressure from his hand come to rest up between her shoulder blades. 

“Have you had it since you fell? The headache?” He sounded hesitant, and she couldn’t blame him after the way she’d reacted this morning when he’d expressed concern.

She hesitated. She’d had it since she woke up in the shower with Billy two days ago, and she was pretty sure it was from whatever he’d given her. “Yeah.” 

“Max, maybe you should go to the doctor. Get checked out, make sure everything’s okay?” 

Max opened her eyes to look at him again, trying to smile but not quite managing it. “Yeah, if it’s not gone by tomorrow after school, I’ll have my mom call the doctor.” She didn’t actually have a doctor here. She rarely ever got sick and finding a doctor in Hawkins had never been a top priority when they’d moved here.

“Okay.” He looked relieved, but still worried. 

She turned so she was lying on her side, facing him and his hand moved to rest on her hip. It took everything within her not to flinch when he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, reminding herself this was Lucas, not Billy. His gaze dropped to her swollen lower lip before he met her eyes again. 

“Does it hurt?” 

“No.” It was just everything else that did. She did her best to give him a reassuring smile, then shifted closer and kissed him softly, which _did_ make her lip hurt a little, but kissing Lucas always felt right so she ignored the pain. She felt his thumb brushing over her cheek gently, back and forth as he returned the gentle pressure against her mouth. 

“Ewwww!” 

She tried not to laugh at how quickly Lucas scrambled back away from her at the sound of his sister’s voice at the door. 

“Erica! Get outta my room!” he ordered, heaving a pillow in her direction. 

“Nuh uh. Mom said if Max is spending the night, she’s gotta sleep downstairs.” Erica gave him a knowing look. 

Lucas groaned, sighing as he flopped back onto the bed. 

“Don’t worry. I didn’t tell her about all the times Max sneaks in your room at night,” she added, voice dropping. 

Max’s eyes widened at that and she and Lucas exchanged shocked looks. 

“Puh-lease, I’m eleven, not three. I pay attention.” She gave them a knowing look, but then shrugged. “I’m not gonna say anything. I like Max. She’s cool. So don’t blow it,” she said to Lucas. 

Max smiled at her, the first real smile she felt like she’d had in days. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “You’re a cool kid.” 

Erica smirked. “I know it.” Without another word, she turned and headed down the hall toward her own room. 

“Ugh,” Lucas groaned, throwing an arm over his face. “She’s the worst.” 

“No.” She laid down beside him once more, rolling her head to look at him seriously. “Not even close.” 

He met her eyes, grimacing. “Yeah, I just - “ 

“I know,” she said nonchalantly. She wasn’t trying to make him feel guilty. “She’s a good kid. I know she gets on your nerves, but she’s also covering for me and saving both our asses.” 

Lucas heaved a sigh. “I just have a feeling she’s going to hold it over my head and see what she can get out of it.” 

Max’s stomach turned and she looked up at the ceiling, taking a slow, deep breath. Their situations weren’t really comparable, but her mind still immediately went to Billy. No matter how annoying Lucas might find his little sister, even if she did blackmail him, Max knew it wasn’t going to be for anything more than hanging out with them on occasion, or maybe pocket change for ice cream or something else that was entirely harmless. 

The most that would happen if he said no to Erica and she turned on him was they both would get into a little bit of trouble with Lucas’ parents. 

After all. 

She was pretty sure his family didn’t even _own_ a gun. 

***

Something about being at the Sinclair’s house made her feel safe enough that miraculously, she slept. Not only did she sleep, she didn’t have any nightmares. She got up an hour ahead of everyone else, fixing breakfast - omelettes this time instead of pancakes - and after everyone had eaten, she rode to school on the back of Lucas’ bike. Admittedly, the tiny seat was less than comfortable since she hadn’t fully recovered from Friday night yet, but the closeness to Lucas made up for it. She rested her head against his back, wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes as he peddled. 

She wished he would just keep going and never stop. Not until they were far out of Hawkins, away from Indiana. Maybe all the way back to California and the safety of her dad’s house. She swallowed heavily when the bike slowed to a stop and they were in front of the high school instead. 

Max drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she climbed off the bike and waited for Lucas to do the same, locking his bike up at the bike rack. She linked her fingers through his when he reached out for her hand, giving her such a warm smile that it almost physically hurt at the same time warmth flooded her chest. 

They stopped at her locker so she could get her things, and then at his for the same reason, and he kissed her cheek before letting go of her hand and heading to class. She spotted Will down the hall and she moved to catch up with him, pausing momentarily when a familiar figure stepped in front of her, blocking her path. 

“Hey,” Tommy greeted with a small smile and she faltered, confusion flickering through her. She was pretty sure they’d never even spoken before. She wasn’t even sure Tommy knew who she was. 

“Hey?” She glanced past him to try and keep an eye on Will. 

He shifted a little closer to her and she looked at him warily. “Your hair looks pretty today, Little Red.” 

_Little Red._

Her stomach did a flip flop at the nickname, but she didn’t know why and she stepped away from him. “Thanks. I gotta get to class.” She didn’t look at him again, moving around him and making a beeline for Will, who was closing his locker. 

“Max? You okay?” He frowned a little.

“Yeah. We should get to class.” She forced herself to smile, then linked her arm through his, casting a glance over her shoulder to where Tommy was still standing in the same spot, watching her. 

A chill ran down her spine and she quickly looked away as she and Will maneuvered their way through the crowded hall. 

***

Max wanted nothing more than to skip third period p.e. It was the only class she had alone with Jane. Not that they ever really talked. That didn’t factor in to her wanting to skip one way or the other. Her body still hurt too much to be forced to do things like situps and pushups and today, of course, was the mile run. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem for her. She didn’t mind running, didn’t mind exercise in general, but she wasn’t sure she could pull off a mile of running today without collapsing onto the ground and dying. 

Even as she thought it, she knew she was being over-dramatic. It wouldn’t kill her. Probably.

Her gym locker was just a few down from Jane’s, and Max kept her back to the other girl as she slowly stripped out of her shirt and jeans, reaching for her gym shorts to pull on. 

“What happened?” 

Max glanced over her shoulder at the other girl, who was staring at her with wide eyes and she frowned. “What are you talking about?” 

“Your back.” 

It had been weeks since Billy had last used his belt or even the flogger on her, and she knew those marks had healed already. The cigarette burns were lower, beneath her underpants. She tugged the shorts on self-consciously, then grabbed her gym shirt and moved to stand in front of the mirror, turning so that she could see her back in the mirror. There were bruises there -- black and blue with just a hint of green -- lined all across her lower back, just above her ass. 

All the air escaped her lungs and she caught Jane’s gaze in the mirror, almost surprised to see the worry reflected in her eyes. She’d seen her worried before, of course, but it had never been aimed at Max herself. 

“I don’t know,” she said after a moment, and for once, it was the truth. But she knew that wasn’t going to do anything but cause the brunette to grow _more_ worried, which was the last thing she needed. “I guess it’s from falling off my board this weekend.” She quickly tugged her shirt on over her head, pulling her hair up and into a ponytail to get it out of her face for class. 

“Does it hurt?” 

Max didn’t know what to do with the concern that Jane was suddenly exhibiting toward her. The timing was terrible. She had to focus on surviving the next thirty-six days until Billy graduated, and then she’d be free and maybe then…

“No. It’s not so bad. The headache’s worse.” She shrugged. 

“Hopper! Mayfield! Get out on the track! That mile isn’t going to run itself!” Their gym teacher yelled as she peered around the corner at them. 

Max couldn’t help but roll her eyes before she moved to close her locker and headed for the door. “You coming?” 

“Yes.” Jane almost smiled at her as she followed her out the door. 

Would wonders never cease? 

***

She managed to avoid Billy all day, until the moment she had to get in his camaro and go home with him after school. She held onto her bookbag tightly as she reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat, wishing she could stay at Lucas’ again tonight. She knew she couldn’t push her luck, though. Billy might feel bad for whatever happened Friday night, or whatever, but it wasn’t going to last. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that it would. 

Billy cast a sideways glance at her but said nothing as he shifted the camaro into gear and peeled out of the parking lot.

Max hoped against hope it would stay that way, but she rarely ever got what she wanted and now was no exception. 

“You let him stick his dick in you last night?” There was tension in his voice, and the vulgarity of the words struck her as hard as any whipping or beating did because it was aimed at the only solid relationship she _had_. 

“Considering it still hurts to _walk_ from Friday night, _and_ his parents being there, what do _you_ think?” she snapped. 

His fingers loosened just a little on the steering wheel and she turned her head to stare out the passenger window. 

“Keep it that way. I better not find out otherwise,” he told her. 

She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but she wasn’t that stupid anymore. 

“Don’t get used to the jeans,” Billy said after another long moment of silence. He glared at her, making a face at the outfit she was wearing. “Tomorrow’s back to the new norm. Are we clear?” 

“Crystal,” Max answered bitterly. 

“Good.” 

***

Billy was upset again. She remembered that he’d been upset on Friday on the way home from school, remembered the tension in his face, the way his fingers had been wound so tightly around the steering wheel. The subtle clench of his jaw that signalled nothing good was happening. 

It was much the same way now as he drove them _to_ the school Wednesday morning, and she hated the way his tension made her own body tense up, her shoulders tightening and a knot forming in her stomach. When Billy was upset about something, it never meant good things for her. 

“I like that sweater on you.” 

His voice broke through the relative silence of the car and she looked down instinctively, already forgetting what she’d reluctantly pulled out of her closet that morning. It was soft, a light lavender. The only thought she’d had when she’d chosen it was, _Well at least it’s not pink._

“You should say thank you when someone gives you a compliment, Max.” His voice was sharp and she held her breath before forcing herself to mumble a thank you that didn’t sound the least bit grateful. 

“You know, I’ve been pretty easy on you since Saturday, but you need to get your shit together,” he told her and it was all she could do not to shrug away from his hand when it moved to rest on her knee. “I’m not gonna fucking baby you forever.”  


“Why are you in such a shitty mood?” She wasn’t entirely sure what made her ask, other than maybe she was trying to distract him from sliding his hand any higher up on her leg. Which worked, thank God. 

“Don’t fucking worry about it.” He pulled his hand away and tightened his grip on the steering wheel once more, shifting the car into park as he pulled into a space outside the school. “Ditch the underwear before school’s out.” 

The words were commanding but also so casual that she couldn’t help but shudder even as she reached for the door handle, hauling herself out of the car and gripping tightly onto her bookbag. She already knew she’d have to obey that order or she’d suffer consequences she’d rather not think about. She slammed the door shut and took off toward the school entrance. 

***

She wasn’t prepared for the sight of Mike at her locker as she made her way down the hall. She was even less prepared to hear the words that he hurled at her the moment she was within close enough distance to hear him. 

“Your brother was at my house last night with my _mom_ ,” he hissed. 

Max stopped in her tracks, staring at him and trying to make sense of his words. “What are you talking about?” 

He moved closer, glaring at her. “I went down to get a glass of water and they were in the kitchen together. _Together_ ,” he emphasized, gesturing vaguely with his hands. 

Together. Jesus Christ. And Mike had caught them. That, at least, explained Billy’s foul mood this morning. Not that it was out of the norm for him to be in a foul mood. She drew in a breath and moved past Mike to spin the combination on her locker, not even sure what she was supposed to say to that information. “Well that’s a disgusting mental image,” she finally said.

“No shit,” he snapped, turning to face her again. “Do me a favor and keep your piece of shit brother _away_ from my house.” 

“Right, because I have that kind of control over Billy,” she said with every ounce of sarcasm she still possessed. 

“Well _try_ , Max!” 

Max turned to face him, narrowing her eyes into a glare. “Your mother and my _step_ brother are adults. They don’t need your permission, or mine to do whatever they fucking want, Mike.” Bitterness seeped into her tone this time because of the irony. Mike wanted _her_ to control Billy, when Billy was the one calling all the shots in her goddamned life. She didn’t get a choice in much of anything these days. Compiled with that was the bitterness she felt at Mike for insinuating any of this was somehow _her_ fault. She knew he had a tendency to take his anger out on people he wasn’t really angry with, but frankly it was getting old. She slammed her locker shut without bothering to grab out any of her books. 

He seemed to startle at her words, or her tone, or possibly both, but right now she didn’t really care. Maybe if Billy would spend more time with Mike’s mother, he’d leave _her_ alone for good. She felt guilty the instant she thought it, because Billy being at the Wheeler house wasn’t a great thing, either, really. Irritated with him or not, Mike was her friend and she didn’t want to see him hurt. 

“Look. I’ll talk to him, but I can’t make any promises,” she said before turning and heading toward her first period class. What a stellar start to the day it was turning out to be. 

If she’d had any idea what was coming, she’d have skipped the rest of it and gone back home. 

But hindsight was always 20/20. 

***

Lunch was tense, to say the least. 

Mike apparently hadn’t filled the others in on what he’d told her about that morning, but his mood definitely hadn’t gotten any better either. He snapped at Dustin twice over the latter snatching fries off his tray, and when Lucas asked him what his problem was, he’d glared at him and then shifted his gaze to her. “Why don’t you ask your girlfriend?” 

Bitterness rose up within her and she rested her hands on the table palm-down. “Apparently it’s somehow my fault that my asshole step-brother is banging Mike’s mother.” 

Silence fell over the table and then everyone started talking at once. 

“ _What?_ ”

“Billy and Mrs. Wheeler?” 

“ _Gross!_ ” 

Jane sat silently, clutching onto Mike’s hand, but when her gaze met Max’s, she at least looked sympathetic. Maybe even apologetic. Max was starting to feel more and more like she’d stepped into the Twilight Zone or the Upside Down or some other alternate dimension where Jane Hopper didn’t hate her guts.

“That’s definitely not Max’s fault,” Lucas cut in, shooting Mike a disapproving stare.

“I never said it was her _fault,_ ” Mike defended. “I just asked her to keep him away from my house.” 

Max was about to respond when she caught sight of Tommy a few feet away, looking at her with a small smile. He winked before turning and heading away and her eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. Her stomach twisted into an even bigger knot than it had been and she realized she’d missed part of the conversation when it dawned on her that all of her friends were staring at her. “What?” 

“Did you know before this morning?” Dustin asked, frowning. 

“About Billy and Mike’s mom?” she asked and Will frowned now, too, looking at her with worry. 

“That _is_ what we’re talking about,” Mike mumbled. 

“ _No._ Of course not. I didn’t know until you hit me with that at my locker first thing this morning,” Max shot back. “It’s not like I’m his keeper, Wheeler.” 

“Well, someone needs to be,” he snapped. 

“Then by all means, the job is _yours_ ,” she responded, shoving her tray away. She had barely touched her food. She rose to her feet abruptly, grabbing her bag off the floor and hauling it up over her shoulder. 

“Oh, of course. Run away like you always do because you can’t stand confrontation.” 

“ _Mike,_ ” Lucas said sharply, glaring at him. 

“You know what?” Max’s voice shifted from anger to a flat monotone that echoed her apathy for the entire situation. “Fuck you.” Without waiting for a response, and without looking at the rest of them, she stormed off

***

She blew off her fifth period math class, opting to hide out in the back of the library that she’d started thinking of as _hers_. She hated math anyway, even if she was doing okay at it, and she wasn’t in the mood to listen to Mr. Lane’s droning. She curled up in one of the more comfortable chairs and closed her eyes, dozing off and on before waking when the bell rang to signal the end of the period. She had four minutes to get to study hall, but she had study hall with Mike.  


Fuck Mike Wheeler. 

Fuck study hall, too, for that matter. 

She knew she was going to end up with detention for missing again, but she couldn’t bring herself to care as long as she could avoid Mike for awhile longer. 

Max drifted off again, starting awake from a weird dream about dancing with Billy’s friend Tommy. She did her best to shake it off even as she wondered why she was dreaming about a guy she’d barely met, grabbing her bag and heading toward seventh period English when the bell rang. 

“Max.” 

She turned, pausing in her tracks when she spotted Tommy approaching her. 

“Can we talk?” He looked worried about something. 

“Why?” she asked warily. 

“It’s important. It’s about Friday,” he said quietly, reaching out and gripping onto her elbow gently. She stared down at his hand on her arm, dread washing over her. What did Tommy know about Friday? _How_ would Tommy know about Friday? Billy sure as hell wouldn’t have mentioned anything to him, right? He couldn’t possibly be that stupid. Not when he was always so damned careful about not leaving marks on her where they could be seen, about not touching her when anyone else was around. 

_Except last Monday,_ she thought, remembering how he’d bent her over a table in the science lab. She swallowed hard, letting her eyes dart up to meet Tommy. 

“Okay. Let’s talk.” 

“Not here.” He smiled very faintly before guiding her toward the girl’s locker room. “There aren’t any classes right now and Coach Baker’s gone for the day.” 

She ignored the growing unease as she let him lead her into the empty room because she wanted _answers_. She had a sinking feeling that Tommy may be the only way to get them, because Billy was avoiding all discussion of whatever happened Friday night. 

“You’ve avoided me all week. Kinda hurts my feelings,” he said quietly, still holding onto her arm. 

Max pulled away, moving so she was face to face with him instead. She didn’t miss the way his eyes trailed down her body, lingering on her legs. She shifted self-consciously. “Did it?” She wasn’t sure she was any good at playing coy, but she was desperate enough for answers that she was willing to give it a shot. 

He grinned at her, moving closer. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he told her and her heart began to beat faster in her chest. 

“Good to know I’m unforgettable,” she responded, keeping all traces of the revulsion she felt out of her voice. 

Tommy laughed quietly. “Maybe next time we can just leave Billy out of the equation. He’s kind of a killjoy.” He shifted toward her, reaching out and cupping her face in one hand. 

It wasn’t hard to read between those lines. “So you’re saying that - the three of us…” 

He raised his eyebrows. “You don’t remember?” His hand dropped to her hip. “We had a great time, even with Billy there, but...I’m more of a one on one kind of guy if you know what I mean.” He leaned in, pressing his lips against hers in a way that felt all too familiar and her mind drifted to the dream she’d just woken up from in the library. 

“We danced.” She pulled away, feeling suddenly nauseated. It had been real, not just a dream. 

“We danced for _hours_ ,” he confirmed with a smile. “You’re a lot of fun to be around, Little Red.” 

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped and his eyes widened a little in surprise. 

“You didn’t protest on Friday,” Tommy informed her, resting his hand on her hip again but this time when she tried to pull away, he moved her, pushed her up gently against the row of lockers until there was nowhere left to go. “Maybe you just need a reminder.” 

“Get away from me,” Max said firmly, reaching out and pressing her hands against his chest to push him away. 

“Hey, calm down,” he said, reaching up and covering her mouth, eyes hardening. “ _Relax._ I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not Billy.” He pressed closer to her, taking his hand away from her mouth and capturing her lips in a kiss, tongue stroking along the seam of her mouth to try and gain access. 

She pushed against him as hard as she could, biting his lip none too gently and flinching when he pulled away, anticipating the blow that was sure to come, but didn’t. 

“Yeah. I like my girls with some fire. Probably a redhead thing,” he told her with a grin. 

“Get _off_ me or I’m gonna scream!” 

“I wouldn’t.” He pulled away to look at her. “Unless you want the tape I made on Friday to surface and get passed around to all the guys on the basketball team.” 

“Tape?” she echoed. 

“Showing just how much of a good time Max Mayfield can be when she’s relaxed enough.” He raised his eyebrows at her even as he slid his hand up and beneath her skirt as she froze in place. 

He had a video. 

“Billy’s going to kill you,” she whispered. 

“It’ll be pretty bad news for him if that tape got out, too,” he pointed out, pushing her underwear aside and stroking a finger against her core even as she tensed. “Don’t think his dad would approve, do you?” 

Truthfully she had no idea what Neil Hargrove would do with that, and she had no desire to find out. She bit down on her lip, blinking back against the tears that threatened to fall. This time when Tommy leaned in to kiss her, she didn’t fight back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please heed the tags. 
> 
> Lacrimosa. Latin. _Weeping._

By the time seventh period English rolled around, Lucas was wishing he’d gone after Max at lunch. It was just that he knew her well enough to know when she was pissed off and wanted to be left alone. Besides, he’d had to have a serious talk with Mike about losing the attitude. Nothing Billy did was in Max’s control, and he _knew_ Mike knew that. 

“You gotta stop lashing out at people who aren’t to blame when you’re pissed off,” he’d told his friend, who’d looked away guiltily. He loved Mike. The guy had a huge heart and he’d do anything for any of them. Hell, two years ago he’d literally jumped off a cliff to save Dustin. But he had to learn to control his anger, because it seemed like Max was his go-to person to attack when he was upset and Lucas wasn’t okay with that. He’d been able to tell from the looks on Will and Dustin’s faces they weren’t either, and he was glad. 

Max was one of them. She might have been the last to join the party, but that didn’t matter.

He waited right up until a couple minutes before the bell rang before reluctantly taking his seat and watching the door, hoping she wasn’t going to skip. But when she hadn’t shown up ten minutes into class, his heart sank, shoulders slumping. 

Goddammit, Mike. 

He did his best to pay attention in class as they discussed the first couple chapters of The Scarlet Letter, but he kept glancing at the clock, eager to get out of there and go find his girlfriend and make sure she was at least okay. 

He’d grabbed his backpack up off the floor and was making his way toward the door when Marie stepped into his path. 

“Hey. Are we still meeting at the library in a few?” she asked with a small smile, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. 

_Shit._ He’d completely forgotten he was supposed to stay after and meet with her to work on their class project. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I just need to go do something and I’ll meet you there,” he assured her, giving her a quick smile in return. 

“Great. See you there,” she called as he moved around her and headed out the door. 

He didn’t bother going to his own locker, making a beeline for Max’s instead. He looked around the crowd of students and caught sight of her familiar red hair as she headed for the school exit. He pushed his way through the throng of people. “Max! Wait!” 

Either she didn’t hear him, or she was still pissed in general and ignoring him, but he was giving her the benefit of the doubt in the noisy hall as he rushed toward her, finally catching up to her as she made it outside. He reached out and caught her arm but she quickly yanked it away like he’d burned her. “Max?” Her face was pale, and he was sure he wasn’t imagining the tear tracks down her cheeks even though she wouldn’t meet his eyes. All the air left his lungs. “Hey. Hey, what happened? Where’ve you been?” 

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Her voice was so hushed he barely heard her and his eyebrows furrowed, trying to figure out what was going on. 

“Did you and Mike fight again?” Because if they had, he was going to have to punch Mike. 

“No. I have to go.” She turned away from him, moving to head down the steps. 

“Max, wait.” He followed her quickly, shaking his head. “What’s going on?” 

“You need to get away from me, Lucas.” There was no hint of kidding in her voice and he stared at her for a moment. 

“What are you talking about?” 

She finally looked up at him, her blue eyes locking with his brown ones. “Just go meet with Marie and work on your project.” 

Lucas felt like she’d yanked the hypothetical rug out from under his feet. “ _Max._ ” 

She didn’t answer him as she turned and headed toward the parking lot where Billy was waiting, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the driver’s side of his camaro, glaring at him from less than a few yards away. 

***

“You’re late.” 

Max didn’t bother responding to Billy’s comment as she moved around the car to get into the passenger seat, bag resting on her lap as she closed the door. She didn’t look at him when he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine and threw the car into reverse, backing up and then speeding out of the parking lot of the school. 

“Open your legs,” he said, reaching out to put his hand on her thigh. 

“No.” 

Billy turned his head to look at her, clearly thrown by her response. “Excuse me?” 

“I said _no_.” Her voice was shakier than she wanted it to be, but it was firmer than she’d expected. She clutched a little more tightly onto her bookbag. 

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” His voice was low, full of warning. 

Right then, she didn’t care what her punishment was going to be for disobeying him. “Tell your friend Tommy to stay the fuck away from me.” 

That got his attention. Wordlessly he jerked the steering wheel to the right, pulling the camaro off the road and shoving it into park. “What?” 

She turned her head to glare at him, hot tears stinging her eyes. “You fucking _heard_ me!” Max picked up her bookbag and shoved it at him before reaching for the door handle and climbing out of the car, leaving him sitting in the seat in stunned silence, at least for a few seconds before he hauled himself out of the driver’s seat and slammed the door. 

“Did he touch you?” His voice was hard, demanding.

A bubble of laughter devoid of any humor rose up within her. “Why wouldn’t he? You let him on Friday, right?” 

For the first time in a long time, Billy actually looked like he wasn’t sure what to say or do. Good. It was about time the shoe was on the other foot. 

“What did you give me?” she asked. 

“What?” 

“What did you _give_ me to knock me unconscious so you and your friend could rape me?” she demanded. “I know you gave me _something_! What was it?” 

“I didn’t --” 

“BULLSHIT!” She grabbed a small rock off the side of the road, hurling it at him and feeling momentarily satisfied when it slammed into his chest, catching him off guard. “What did you drug me with?” 

“I didn’t!” His voice rose. “That was Tommy’s idea.” 

Max grabbed another rock, glaring at him even as he backed up a couple steps, holding his hands up. “And you _let_ him!” This time, she heaved the rock at his windshield. It didn’t shatter, didn’t even crack, but it bounced off and landed on the hood of the car. 

“Knock it off, Max!” he barked.

“Fuck you!” She kicked the front bumper, which would have been more effective if she’d been wearing something aside from _flats_. 

He rounded the car, moving toward her. 

“Stay _back,_ ” she ordered, a little thrill going through her when he stopped in his tracks. 

“I didn’t have a choice with Tommy,” Billy told her, staring at her intently. “He saw us at school last week. In the science lab.” 

“And whose fucking fault was _that?_ I didn’t _ask_ you to yank me into a room and rape me at school!” 

His jaw tightened. “Rape?” he echoed, taking a step toward her, disbelief in his tone. “It’s not _rape_ when you get off on it, Max.”

It felt like he’d knocked the wind out of her, all the color draining from her face as she stared back at him.

“And let’s face it, you _always_ get off on it.” Billy took another step closer. 

Shame flooded her veins because she knew that was much was true. Her breathing was uneven and she took a step back away from him before turning and stalking away. 

“Where the fuck are you going? Get in the car!” he yelled after her. 

“Go to hell!” she shouted, flipping him off over her shoulder as she kept going. He didn’t come after her. 

And Max didn’t look back. 

***

It was a slow night in Hawkins. 

Steve had already finished up the little bit of paperwork he’d needed to do to wrap up the day and he still had almost two hours before his shift was over. Hopper had long since gone home, so he was there by himself, which was lonely in addition to boring. So when the little bell above the door jingled to alert him to someone’s presence, Steve perked up quickly. 

He paused when he spotted Max standing just inside, looking wary and uncertain, like she wasn’t sure she should be there. It was weird considering how she’d never hesitated to barge right into places - his apartment included, at times - with the utmost confidence. Then again she hadn’t visited his place in weeks. Months, maybe. Christ. Had it really been that long? 

“Max?” 

She flinched slightly at the sound of his voice and Steve frowned. “Hey.” 

It took him a moment to realize she had on a _skirt_ and come to think of it, she had the day of the carnival a few weeks ago, too. He was pretty sure he’d never seen her in a skirt before then. “What’s up?” He watched her wind her arms around herself, then shrug as she moved farther into the station, closer to the front desk. 

“Nothing. Just thought I’d say hi.” 

Steve narrowed his eyes at her. “You never drop in just to say hi.” 

“I have, _too_.” There was the barest hint of defensiveness in her tone. 

“Not since I first started.” 

“Yeah, well, I’ve been busy and tonight I’m not, okay?” 

He stared for a moment, then shrugged even though he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on. That something was wrong. It was Hawkins, after all. When wasn’t something wrong? Granted. It had been well over a year since the last incident with the Upside Down, but he still felt like he was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. He had a feeling they all were. 

“Okay,” he said finally. “In that case, make yourself comfortable. I’ll get you a soda.” It didn’t occur to him that giving a teenager soda at ten o’clock at night probably wasn’t a great idea. Then again no one had ever accused him of having great ideas to begin with. He rose to his feet even as she moved around the desk to sit down in the empty chair beside his, watched her curl her legs up beneath her, skirt covering her knees. Then he headed toward the break area, grabbing a cold Pepsi bottle out of the fridge and returning to the front, holding it out to her. 

She took it, but stared at it for a long moment, eyebrows furrowed as if she was trying to remember something. 

“Max?” he prompted finally as he sat down beside her. She didn’t answer, and he felt something in his chest tighten. He leaned a little closer to her, waving his hand in front of her face and withdrawing quickly when she recoiled.  
She set the bottle down on the desk, wrapping her arms around herself once more. “Are you busy?” 

“No,” he answered sincerely. “And even if I was, I told you before, I’m never too busy for you or any of the others.” Steve watched as her lower lip trembled and for one horrifying moment, he was sure she was going to start crying. Something was definitely wrong. “Max. What happened?” 

Max looked up at him, and sure enough, her eyes were full of unshed tears and he’d never seen her that close to crying before. Still, she seemed to be considering filling him in on whatever it was and he leaned forward unconsciously, ready to go pummel whoever it was that had her this upset. “I can’t,” she whispered, dropping her gaze. 

“Why not?” 

“Because you’d make it into a big thing and I can’t --” She bit down hard on her lower lip, shaking her head. 

“Make what into a big thing?” he asked, confused. When she didn’t answer, Steve started going over various scenarios in his mind. “Did you and Lucas break up?” 

“No.” 

“Did you and one of the assholes have a fight?” 

“Yes, but it’s whatever. I don’t _care._ ” Her tone of voice spoke to the exact opposite of the sentiment she’d just voiced. 

“Mike?” he guessed. 

“He’s pretty much the only one I ever fight with, so, yeah. But that’s not...it doesn’t really have anything to do with…” She waved a hand vaguely but fell silent once more. 

“Are you sure? Cause I’ll go smack him upside the head right now if you want,” he offered, only half-kidding. She almost smiled at that and he grinned momentarily before it faded and he gazed at her intently. “Seriously, Max, you can talk to me.” 

“Can I crash on your couch tonight? I don’t wanna go home.” 

Steve sat back in his seat, keeping his eyes on her. “Yeah, of course.” Not that he’d let her take the _couch_ , but if she said she didn’t wanna go home, he knew she had a damned good reason. He knew her family wasn’t the most stable or healthy - hell. His wasn’t either. His father stopped talking to him the same day he’d announced he was going to be a police officer. But Max’s family was even less stable than his own, and that was saying something. “But you gotta call your mom at least and tell her you’re not coming home.” 

She didn’t argue, simply reached for the phone and dialed, pressing the phone to her ear and waiting. “Mom? Hey. No, no, I’m fine. Sorry. I’ve been studying with Jane and we lost track of time. I think I’m just gonna crash over here tonight.” She paused, glancing at him when he raised his eyebrows and then rolling her eyes. “Of course, the chief’s fine with it. I will. Thanks. Bye,” she said after a moment, then hung up the phone. 

“Crashing at Jane’s, huh?” 

She rolled her eyes again. “Sounds less suspicious than Hey, Mom, I’m sleeping over at my friend Steve’s tonight.” 

He winced at that. “Right.” He leaned back in his chair, rocking it back and forth with his foot. “Did you eat dinner?” 

A guilty look flashed across her features and he sighed. 

“I didn’t think so. I have leftover Chinese in the back if you’re interested.” 

That got a tiny smile out of her. “Thanks, Steve.” She slowly unfurled herself from the ball she’d been curled into and rose to her feet before heading toward the break room.

Maybe she didn’t feel like she could tell him whatever it was that was going on, but he could at least give her a safe place to stay for the night, where he could keep an eye on her. Maybe she’d eventually open up and he could really help her somehow. He hoped so.

***

Max was tempted to see if Steve would let her skip school Thursday, but she knew even he had limitations of what he’d allow without asking a lot more questions than he had. He’d tried a couple of times last night, and she’d simply told him that things around her place had been rough for awhile and she just wanted a break. He’d dropped it quickly, satisfied with the answer. She had exactly one outfit she left at his apartment on nights the party would crash there - which hadn’t really happened since last summer - but it was better than going to school in the same sweater and _skirt_ she’d worn the day before. 

She’d pulled on the spare jeans and socks, the long-sleeved green shirt, and then Steve had driven her to school, her hair still damp from the shower. She’d refused breakfast; her stomach was in knots anticipating seeing both Billy _and_ Tommy and wondering how she was going to get through the day without getting into trouble with one of them. 

When she stepped into the school hallway, she could have sworn a hush fell over the student body, several of them turning to stare at her and she looked down to make sure she didn’t have her shirt on backwards or inside out or something. The people in Hawkins were far more concerned about that sort of thing than anyone in Irvine ever had been. But her shirt was fine, and her jeans were buttoned and zipped so she did her best to ignore the others the way she normally did, avoiding eye contact with Will as she passed. 

“Max, wait,” he called, but she didn’t stop. 

Max made her way to her locker, freezing in place at the sight of the graffiti that decorated the metallic door. 

In bright red spray paint someone had scrawled the word _Slut._

***

“People are jerks.” 

Max drew in a slow, deep breath and exhaled as Dustin sat down beside her at the lab table in first period AP Bio. She didn’t look at him. 

“It was probably Troy and James,” he whispered. “They’re definitely the type to graffiti someone’s locker.” 

“I don’t care,” she said, voice flat. She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest. 

“Oh. Okay, that’s good. Cause it’s not worth your time. They’re assholes.” 

“I know.” She didn’t want to talk to Dustin, didn’t want to talk to _anyone_. Truth be told, she felt more exhausted today than she had been the last few days and she just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. Maybe she’d get really lucky and not wake up. She was sure she wouldn’t ever be that lucky, though. Not with Billy around. 

“And Mike’s really sorry about yesterday. He was being a total dumbass. He knows none of that shit’s your fault. He’s gonna apologize later, you know, because he drew first blood. Metaphorically anyway.” 

She closed her eyes, trying to tune him out. She was relieved when Mrs. Allen stepped into the room and class began. She slumped down in her seat, doing her best to pay attention when she couldn’t bring herself to care in the least about what was being taught. 

***

“All right, Ladies. Since we’re rapidly approaching the end of the school year, today we’ll be playing a longtime favorite of mine,” Coach Baker announced as she moved to the far corner of the gym, toward the cage of assorted colorful balls. “Dodgeball.” 

“What’s dodgeball?” Jane whispered from where she sat beside Max on the gym floor. 

Max glanced at her, and then back at Coach Baker. “You get divided into two teams and the other team throws balls at you. You try to dodge them. If you get hit, you’re out of the game.” 

The brunette frowned deeply, clearly perturbed by the idea, and Max didn’t really blame her even if she’d always been pretty good at dodgeball. 

“Just stay toward the back. They’ll have a harder time hitting you back there,” Max assured her and Jane smiled a little, nodding. 

“All right. Two teams. Everyone up!” Coach Baker yelled as girls scrambled to the other side of the gym, leaving Max, Jane, and a handful of others where they were. There was a disproportionate number of people on the other team and she grimaced as she rose to her feet, glancing at Jane sideways while the coach started tossing balls out to everyone. Max caught one easily and handed it to the other girl, then caught another one as it was thrown to her. 

“Play ball!” 

It didn’t take Max long to figure out that she was Enemy Number One, as nearly every girl on the other team aimed right at her. She managed to dart away from several, and she moved toward the back of the gym to get some distance even as she hurled her own ball across the line, hitting some random girl whose name she didn’t know. 

“Whore,” she heard the girl mutter as she moved to sit on the bleachers. 

“Excuse me?” She was so distracted by the girl’s utterance that she missed the ball hurled straight at her head. It hit her with such force she stumbled backwards into the gym wall, wincing as several more pummeled her at once. 

Jane moved quickly, standing in front of her and shielding her from another round that came hurtling toward her, knocking them away with her hands, and Max suspected, her powers. She was glaring at the other girls now, blood dripping down her nose as she heaved a ball across the gym and knocked another girl down. 

“Mayfield! On the bleachers! You’re out!” Coach Baker shouted. 

“Are you okay?” 

Max drew in a breath and looked at Jane, who caught one of the balls hurled in her direction. “Yeah. Fortunately these don’t really hurt that much.” She shrugged. “Thanks.” She headed over to the bleachers, casting a wary look at the other girls who were already seated there. 

One of them, a blonde she really know, leaned toward her a little. “I can’t _believe_ you did that to Carol,” she whispered.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked over at her. “What?” 

“Oh, stop playing innocent. Everyone knows you screwed Tommy yesterday,” she hissed. 

She felt the color drain from her face and she said the only possible thing she could think to say. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Sure you don’t. _Slut._ ” There was disgust on the blonde’s face. She looked over to the other girls she was sitting with and they began having a hushed conversation. 

Max swallowed heavily, doing her best to ignore the panic she felt welling up within her. It was quickly becoming obvious to her what had happened. She couldn’t lose her cool in front of these girls because that would just make everything even worse. She sat stiffly on the bleachers, lips pressed tightly together, head held up as high as she could manage. 

***

She hated home-ec. 

She hated that she’d been forced to take home-ec instead of something more useful like shop class. She already knew how to cook. She didn’t think it was fair that the girls were expected to do all the work around the house, had never bought into the sexist bullshit that Neil had been spoon-feeding her mom since they’d gotten married. 

Still. Fourth hour found her standing over one of the stoves in the home-ec room, hair tied back in a ponytail to keep it out of her face as she focused on making a pot of vegetable soup and doing her best to ignore the fact that the other girls in the class kept looking over at her and whispering at their own stations. 

“...desperate to be popular.” 

“ _Slut._ ” 

She drew in a breath and exhaled slowly before moving over to the station beside her and staring intently at the trio of girls. “Maybe instead of making assumptions about people you don’t really know you should shut your mouths and pay attention to what you’re doing.” 

“Excuse me?” one of them asked, wide-eyed. 

“Your pot’s boiling over,” Max said matter-of-factly, arching her eyebrows as soup bubbled over the top and spilled down the sides, trying not to smirk as they moved quickly to turn the fire down beneath their concoction and clean up the mess. She turned to move back to her own stove but she suddenly found herself face to face with Carol. 

“Who the hell do you think you are?” she whispered, eyes alit with fury. 

“I don’t know what it is you think happened, but - “ 

“The whole _school_ knows what happened,” Carol snapped. “But let me tell you this, _Maxine._ You shouldn’t have slept with my boyfriend. You could have picked any other guy in this school but you went after Tommy.” She leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper once more as the teacher looked over. “You’re gonna live to regret ever crossing me.” 

Max said nothing as the other redhead glared at her for a moment before turning and stomping out of the classroom. 

By now even the teacher, Mrs. Burch, was staring at her. 

“Oh screw this,” she mumbled, untying her apron and tossing it onto the counter before she, too, headed for the door. 

“Miss Mayfield! Come back here!” 

She ignored her as she exited the classroom without looking back.

***

Skipping lunch wasn’t a hard decision to make considering she had exactly no appetite. She hadn’t seen any of her friends since earlier in the day and she was sure by now they’d probably all heard the rumors floating around, and she dreaded coming face to face with any of them. Dreaded facing _Lucas._ She had no idea what to say to him. He wouldn’t believe it, probably. He trusted her and she didn’t doubt that. But she knew her behavior lately had been stranger than usual even from her own perspective. 

He knew _something_ wasn’t right. He knew her too well to believe anything else.

Raking a hand through her hair, she made her way into the library and toward her back corner, freezing in place when her gaze landed on Will, who was sitting in the chair beside the one she always sat in.  
“Hey,” he greeted, offering her a small smile even as he pulled a sandwich out of his crumpled paper lunch sack. 

Max stared at him for a moment. “What are you doing?” 

“Eating lunch here with you,” he explained with a shrug.

“Why?” Her fingers tightened around her backpack straps involuntarily, chest feeling tight. 

“Because you’re my friend,” he said simply, motioning to the chair beside him. 

She chewed her lower lip and then slowly moved to sit down, curling her legs up beneath her and watching as he unwrapped his sandwich and promptly offered her half of it. She shook her head, stomach turning. “No thanks.” 

Will studied her for a moment, but set half the sandwich atop the bag on the table and took a small bite of the other half. “A lot of people here are jerks,” he said, voice dropping. 

A short laugh escaped her involuntarily. “Yeah.” The irony was that aside from a couple of people before today - not including Billy, of course - overall Max hadn’t really had any trouble with other students. But wasn’t that just how fast life could change? In a few short hours your entire life could be upended. She’d known that for a long time now.

“Are you okay?” 

Max didn’t look at him even as she struggled to assure him she was fine. 

“It’s okay if you’re not, Max,” he whispered. “I get it.” 

She knew he did, to a degree. Will Byers had been subject to bullying for most of his life in one way or another. Not just from peers, but his dad when he was younger. She hoped to God he never had to deal with the kind of shit she was dealing with currently. She started when he reached out and laid a hand on her arm, but she didn’t pull away. 

“Can I crash at your place tonight?” Her voice was barely audible, and she hated herself for how weak and pathetic she sounded, even if it was just in front of Will. 

“Yeah, of course,” he whispered back, squeezing her arm gently. 

One of the things she loved the most about Will was his tendency to not ask a lot of questions because he felt like he was prying. He just _got_ it. She drew in a breath and nodded, meeting his eyes for a moment. “Thanks.” 

“Anytime.” 

She knew he meant it. 

***

Fridays used to be something Max would look forward to, but today definitely didn’t count. There was nothing to look forward to about today, and especially not another day of school. The one and only saving grace was that there were only a few more weeks of school. She could get through it. Tommy and Billy would both graduate, Billy would leave town, and with any luck she could put the entire last year behind her and never look back. It would seem like just one big nightmare and she’d finally wake up and be free. 

She made her way into the school side by side with Will, studiously ignoring the looks from people she’d never even talked to as she made her way to her locker, pausing when she found it had been scrubbed free of the slur that had been there yesterday. She glanced at Will questioningly and he gave her a tiny smile, shrugging. 

“Some people are assholes. But other people are your friends,” he told her before heading down the hall to his own locker. She watched him go with the faintest hint of a smile on her lips as she turned to get her books out for first period. 

“Hey.” 

She glanced to the right and held her breath as Lucas approached. It was the first time she’d seen him since the day before yesterday, since she’d skipped seventh period yesterday. “Hey,” she said, fiddling with the lock on her locker. 

“Let’s talk at lunch, okay? Just you and me?” He laid a hand on her arm almost hesitantly and she remembered how she’d pulled away from him the last time they’d talked, and guilt flooded her. 

“Okay,” she agreed, closing her eyes when he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

“Ignore these people, Max,” he whispered into her ear. “You’re better than them.” And then he was heading away, and she was pretty sure he’d just taken a little bigger piece of her heart with him. 

***

The only thing good about the four hours before lunch was that they didn’t play dodgeball in p.e. again. Instead, she’d nearly had her head taken off by a spiked volleyball but Jane had shoved her out of the way with her powers just in time. She wasn’t really sure why the other girl was suddenly on her side of anything, regardless of Mike’s words a few weeks ago that Jane liked her and just didn’t know how to talk to her. 

She got a detention for walking out of home-ec the day before, but she wasn’t too worried about it. It wasn’t like her mom kept tabs on what she was doing. Billy, on the other hand, might present a problem. But she was sick and tired of dealing with Billy and his issues, was at the end of her rope with anger and frustration aimed mostly at him. 

Max found a note in her locker from Lucas telling her he’d meet her in the courtyard at one of the picnic tables, so she left her bag in her locker, bringing only a notebook and a pencil as she made her way outside, glancing around. She didn’t see him anywhere, yet, so she made her way to the picnic table the farthest away and sat down, flipping her notebook open and doodling idly, something she’d found herself doing more and more often - probably because of Will. 

She started sketching out a palm tree on a blank piece of paper, trying to make it as real as she could even if it looked nothing like she wanted it to. She was so caught up in what she was doing, she didn’t even notice someone approaching her until the bench shifted. She looked up, expecting to see Lucas and her eyes narrowed when she saw Troy instead. 

“What do you want?” 

“I figured we should talk about our project for English. I wanted to talk to you yesterday but you weren’t in class,” he said, and for the first time since she’d met him, he actually seemed like he was trying to be nice. Something was very wrong. 

“Right.” She’d forgotten all about the stupid project. She drew in a breath, not thrilled in the least to have her grades depend on _Troy_ of all people. She assumed she’d be doing all the work and he’d benefit from it. Except she cared less and less all the time about things like grades. In the long term, they seemed pretty pointless. 

“Also…” Troy glanced around and then shifted closer to her. “Listen. That shit at the carnival a few weeks ago. I was out of line.” 

“Yeah, you were,” she agreed, narrowing her eyes and wondering what it was he was aiming for by being nice to her. 

When his hand rested on her thigh it all made perfect sense. 

“I heard you’re up for a good time,” he said with a smile. “I thought that might be a good way to start off this partnership.” 

Before she even realized what she was doing, she’d picked up her pencil and jammed it pointy-end down through his other hand that was resting on the tabletop. 

Troy howled in pain, yanking his hand free and falling backwards off the bench, garnering the attention of everyone around as she rose to her feet, heart pounding hard against her chest. 

“Don’t ever touch me again,” she snapped. 

“Max?” She turned at the sound of Lucas’ voice, relief washing over her at the sight of his familiar face. She moved toward him, only to be intercepted by Mrs. Burch. 

“Ms. Mayfield! Principal’s office! Now! Mr. Ellis, are you all right?” She quickly moved to Troy’s side. 

“She stabbed me with her pencil!” He was still whimpering, clutching his injured hand to his chest. 

“What did you do to _her?_ ” Lucas demanded, glaring at him and moving to stand beside her, reaching for her hand and weaving his fingers through hers. 

Mrs. Hardy glanced at them over her shoulder. “Move, Ms. Mayfield. That isn’t a suggestion,” she said harshly, pointing toward the building. 

She clutched tightly onto Lucas’ hand for a moment, then let go and stalked toward the building, angry tears prickling at her eyes. Lucas caught up with her quickly. “What did he do?” 

“It doesn’t matter,” she muttered. It never did, did it? At the end of the day she was still the one getting in trouble. 

“It matters to _me_.” 

Max let him open the door for her, let him walk with her toward the principal’s office, but she didn’t answer his question. If she told him, he’d get even more upset, and maybe he’d confront Troy and then he’d wind up getting hurt because of her. Wasn’t that always how this was going to end? One way or another, Lucas was going to get hurt because of her. 

“ _Max._ ” He stopped her right before they reached the office. 

She tried to smile but couldn’t, just shaking her head. 

“Did he say something to you? About that stupid rumor about Tommy?” he whispered, moving so he was in front of her. 

“Let it go, Lucas,” she said quietly, meeting his eyes for a moment before reaching for the doorknob and heading into the principal’s office to await her punishment. 

***

Max slumped in a chair outside the principal’s office as her mom and Neil spoke with Mrs. Burch and Principal Snyder an hour later. She’d pleaded with the former not to call them, but considering the “severity of her actions,” they had no choice. She waited with her arms folded across her chest as they all spoke with Troy and his mother, as well. She wasn’t even given the chance to defend herself.

And now she was waiting the inevitable fallout that she knew was coming her way. Neil had never taken his anger out on her before - at least nothing aside from yelling at her a couple of times - but she was also pretty sure whatever he did to her would pale in comparison to what she’d already gone through. Her mom certainly wouldn’t step in, she was sure. She didn’t want to have two failed marriages under her belt. 

Max let her eyes close, focused on steeling her nerves against whatever punishment was in her future. She’d dealt with Billy. She could deal with his dad. All she had to do was survive. She’d been doing that now for as long as she could remember. 

It wasn’t until Hopper stepped into the secretary’s office that her stomach dropped and she stared up at him with wide eyes. 

“Max,” he greeted, staring at her for a minute before his gaze flickered to Principal Snyder’s door. 

“Chief,” she returned, trying not to squirm. His lips pulled into a frown as he approached the door, knocking once and then opening it and stepping inside. 

Shit. _Shit._

She strained to hear what was being said, but could only catch bits and pieces. “So you haven’t even asked her what happened?” There was skepticism in Hopper’s voice and she bit her lip, trying not to get her hopes up that he’d be on her side just because they’d faced demodogs together a year ago. 

Hopper stepped back out and motioned to her. “Come in here, Kid,” he said gruffly. 

Swallowing hard, Max pushed herself to her feet, sure that her face was drained of all color. Her palms began to sweat. 

The look that her mom gave her was a mixture of shock and disappointment. The look on Neil’s face was blank, but she could read the tension in his jaw. 

Troy and his mother both glared at her, Troy’s now bandaged hand held tightly against his stomach. Mrs. Burch looked disgusted. 

The only one who _wasn’t_ actively looking like they wished she’d sink into the earth and disappear was Hopper. 

“Have a seat, Ms. Mayfield,” Snyder told her, motioning to the empty chair on Neil’s other side. 

She took it wordlessly, doing her best not to look at any of them, but Hopper moved to stand on the other side of her, leaning against the wall so he could see everyone at once. 

“All right, why don’t you tell us what made you stab a fellow student with a pencil?” Snyder asked, leaning back in his chair and staring at her with narrowed eyes.

She drew in a slow, deep breath, barely resisting the urge to look at the chief. “Troy came over and sat down beside me and then he proceeded to put his hand on my leg and suggest we have _sex_ before starting on our English project,” she said, gripping onto the arms of the chair. 

“That’s not true. My son would never put his hands on a girl without permission,” Mrs. Ellis said, shaking her head. 

“With all due respect, Mrs. Ellis,” Hopper said, arching his eyebrows. “Unless you were there, your opinion is just that.” 

She scowled. 

“Mr. Ellis?” 

“She seemed into it,” Troy said with a shrug. “I guess I read the signals wrong.” 

“The signals?” Mrs. Burch questioned, looking between the two of them. 

“When I asked her if she wanted to make out, she leaned in like she was going to kiss me.” 

Fury bubbled over and Max glared at him with every ounce of anger and hatred flowing through her veins. “You’re a fucking _liar!_ ” 

“Maxine!” Neil’s voice was sharp. 

“That kind of language is uncalled for and will absolutely _not_ be tolerated, Ms. Mayfield,” Principal Snyder said firmly. 

“I’m sorry if I read you wrong,” Troy said, looking over at her. 

“I wouldn’t kiss you if you were the only boy left on the planet, you racist dirtbag,” she snapped. 

“All right, that’s quite enough out of you,” Mrs. Burch scolded. “Regardless of how it happened, when you send mixed signals to someone, you shouldn’t be surprised when they take it a step farther, Maxine.” 

“There were no _mixed_ signals!” Max responded, jaw tightening. “If he doesn’t want to get stabbed he needs to keep his hands to himself!” 

“I want her arrested,” Mrs. Ellis said, her face red as she pointed at Max.

“On what grounds?” Hopper’s eyebrows quirked. “He just corroborated Max’s version of events. I got a kid her age. If someone put their hands on Jane without her permission, I’d _hope_ she’d do the same thing.” 

It was a struggle for Max not to smirk at that. Jane would have done a lot worse, and they both knew it. 

“Says the biggest womanizer in Hawkins,” Mrs. Ellis muttered. 

“What was that?” Hopper asked, eyebrows rising higher as he peered over at her. She fell silent, lips pressed tightly together. “Thought so.” 

“So you aren’t going to arrest her?” Neil asked, studying Hopper. 

“I’m tempted to give her a brand new box of pencils,” he responded, folding his arms across his chest. 

“Well.” Snyder didn’t look impressed by that, but there wasn’t much he could do. “We can’t have students stabbing other students so I’m afraid that you won’t be getting off the hook _here_ as easily. You’re suspended for the rest of the day, Ms. Mayfield.” 

“And what about him?” Hopper asked, nodding toward Troy. “What’s his punishment?” 

“I think he’s been punished quite enough, considering his injury, don’t you?” Mrs. Burch asked. 

“Actually, no, I don’t,” he responded, glancing at Max momentarily.

“He’ll serve detention next Friday after school, once he’s healed up more. Ms. Mayfield, We’ll see you on Monday,” Principal Snyder said, giving her a meaningful look. “Hopefully when you return, you won’t be causing anymore trouble.” 

Max said nothing as she rose to her feet, avoiding Hopper’s eyes as she did so. 

“She won’t. Isn’t that right, Maxine?” Neil’s eyes were icy as he stared up at her. 

“Yes, Sir,” she mumbled before following her mom out of the office and down the hallway, passing Mike at his locker on the way. His eyes were wide, worried as she walked by him, arms wrapped around herself. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes, either. 

“We’re going to have a long talk when we get home,” her mom told her, voice hushed as she led the way out of the building. 

Max remained silent. If a long talk was the worst thing she was facing, she had nothing to worry about. But she knew better. 

“Mrs. Hargrove? Mr. Hargrove?” 

Max turned at the familiar voice and nausea washed over her when she spotted Carol approaching. All the air rushed out of her lungs as actual fear set in. 

“Yes?” Neil turned to face the senior. 

“Can I speak with the two of you about something please? It’s important.” Carol cast a thinly veiled smirk at Max.

“We should go,” Max urged quietly, looking at her mom with pleading eyes. 

“In a minute. Go get in the car, Max.” Her mother held the keys out to her. 

When she hesitated, Neil snapped at her. “Maxine, _go_. You’re in enough trouble already.” 

Wordlessly she took the keys from her mom and headed out of the building. She contemplated tossing the keys and making a run for it. 

She knew enough to know not even she could zoom away from the inevitable.

***

Max sat wordlessly on the sofa beside her mother as Neil paced the length of the living room in front of them. Neither of them had spoken a word to her the entire way home from the school, but Neil’s face had been bright red when he’d climbed into the car and he’d gripped onto the steering wheel so tightly she was sure he’d break his fingers. 

“I think we can all agree that since we’ve become family, I’ve treated you with fairness and respect,” he began finally and she bit down hard on her lower lip, studiously not looking at him as he started to speak. “I’ve tried to be a good stepfather to you. To give you the stable home you’d never had before.” 

It took every ounce of willpower she had not to lift her eyes and stare at him in disbelief at that. Her home, her _life_ had been plenty stable right up until the moment Neil Hargrove entered the picture and wrecked it all. 

“I haven’t asked anything of you. I’ve provided for you and your mother. I make sure there’s food on the table and that you have clothes on your back. You’ve had it made, Maxine, and in return...this is what you do? Embarrass me? Embarrass this family by having _sex_ with random boys like some street whore?” 

Beside her, her mother flinched but said nothing and Max bit down hard on her tongue. There wasn’t anything she could say, because it didn’t _matter_ what she said. He wouldn’t believe her anyway. It was best to just keep quiet and let him berate her until he was done rather than open her mouth and make it worse. 

“Apparently I approached all of this the wrong way. Apparently you need more rules and discipline to keep you out of trouble. So there won’t be anymore sleepovers with friends or late night study sessions that aren’t _here_ where we can keep an eye on you. You are _grounded_ for the summer.” 

Neil stopped pacing and stood in front of her. “Get up, Maxine.” She rose to her feet, not even surprised when he reached for his belt buckle and began to undo it. “Bend over the couch.” 

Her mom rose to her feet, as well, turning and leaving the room wordlessly, not wanting to be witness to what was about to happen. 

Max did as he ordered, bracing her hands against the back of the sofa. The one bittersweet victory out of all of this for her was that, rather ironically - thanks to Billy, she didn’t give Neil the satisfaction of crying as he beat her.

***

It didn’t take long for the news about what happened at lunch with Max to get around school. By the time the final hour of the day rolled around, Billy had heard at least eight different versions of what happened. To say he was pissed off would be an understatement. Troy had been taken to the hospital, and Billy’s dad and bitch stepmom had been called to pick up Max. Word had it that she’d been suspended for three days for stabbing Troy with a pencil. Something the little shit probably had coming. 

He could only imagine what his dad’s reaction to all of it had been. Nothing good. But considering Max hadn’t spent the night at home the last _two_ nights, it was difficult for him to feel bad for her. One way or another, she was going to learn her lesson this time. 

“Hey, Billy.” Tommy’s voice was cheerful. Too cheerful, considering he was to blame for all of this. 

Still. He was going to get what was coming to him. Billy just had to be smart about it. “Hey,” he greeted casually, glancing at him and shutting his locker. 

“Plans for the weekend?” 

“Nah. You?” 

“No. Carol’s still pissed at me.” He shrugged. 

“Wanna grab some beers and see what kind of trouble we can get into?” Billy suggested. 

“Hell yeah.” 

Tommy was probably hoping said trouble involved _Max._ It did, just not the way his friend thought. 

“Great.” He pulled his cigarette pack out as he made his way toward the car, watching as Tommy slid into the passenger side of the car without reservation. Billy glanced around before getting into the driver’s seat and starting the car, eyes darker than usual. Anticipating.

Tommy had no idea about the loaded gun in his glove compartment. 

***

Somewhere around 2 in the morning, Max woke up covered in sweat, sick to her stomach and clutching her abdomen from cramps that were so severe she felt like she was dying. She wanted to call out for her mom. To tell her something was _wrong_. Her period cramps were never this bad. Her back ached like someone had hit her with something more solid than a belt. 

It took her almost a half an hour before she was able to uncurl from fetal position and reach out to turn on her bedside lamp, and when she did, she closed her eyes quickly, wincing at the sudden brightness. When she was finally able to see normally, she was horrified by the amount of blood staining the sheets. 

She made her way into the bathroom as quickly as she could, blood still running down her legs as she closed and locked the door behind her, flipping on the light and rummaging through the closet until she found her supply of pads. She cleaned herself up as best she could before putting on fresh underwear and the sanitary napkin. 

By the time she’d managed to change her bedsheets, blood had soaked through the pad, her cramps even worse than before. The nausea intensified and she barely made it back to the bathroom before throwing up. 

Max laid down on the cool linoleum, closing her eyes and panting for breath as sweat drenched her and matted her red hair to her pale skin. She clutched onto her stomach and tried to breathe through the intensity of the pain without screaming. Tears streamed silently down her face as she prayed to any god that would listen to just let her die.


End file.
